“Only the good die young.” It could be the epitaph on Junior Gilliam’s headstone. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 17, 1928, Gilliam died at 49 years of age and was buried in his hometown. Unlike many players whose stories are difficult to research and write about because of their frequent moves from team to team, and sometimes from league to league, Gilliam played only for the Dodgers once he hit the major league farm system.

An undeniably good ball player, there was even more to Gilliam than met the eye. He had some tools, beyond his skills, that most of us lack. First, there was a belief in himself. Imagine joining a team on which played one of the most iconic ball players ever to put on a uniform and therefore know you’d always be compared and never make the grade, that every gre

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